In “Spitzer’s galaxy show,” Robert Benjamin explained the recent upheavals and breakthroughs in galactic research made possible through Spitzer Space Telescope observations. Naturally, several Spitzer images accompanied his words, illustrating the main points. Many of the orbiting observatory’s photos, however, also possess the added benefit of being aesthetically pleasing. Whether it’s a (relatively) nearby galaxy shown in unbelievable detail, an unusual structure hidden deep within a distant object, or the aftermath of two or more galaxies hurtling toward each other, each of Spitzer’s images has a definite visual grace. Here are 15 more examples to complement Benjamin’s explanations of Spitzer’s amazing work.
Click on an image to see a larger version along with a caption describing the photo.
Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud, with old stars appearing blue and young stars appearing green and red. // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Gordon (STScI)
Triangulum Galaxy
The Triangulum Galaxy (M33), with stars looking blue and dust appearing pink and red. //Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Andromeda Galaxy
The dusty interior of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Gordon (University of Arizona)
M106
Spiral Galaxy M106 (NGC 4258), in a composite shot combining X-ray (blue), optical (yellow), infrared (red), and radio data (purple). // Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Maryland/A.S. Wilson, et al.; Optical: Palomar Observatory, DSS; Infrared:NASA/JPL-Caltech; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF
Whirlpool Galaxy
The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), with stars appearing blue-green and interstellar dust glowing orange-red NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (Univ. of Arizona)
Centaurus A
A parallelogram-shaped dust formation near the center of elliptical galaxy Centaurus A, likely the remains of a smaller spiral galaxy that fell into Centaurus A. // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Keene (SSC/Caltech)
NGC 6240
NGC 6240, a pair of galaxies captured mid-collision, here in a composite shot using Spitzer infrared data (in red) and Hubble visible data (in green and blue). // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI-ESA/S. Bush (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
CL0958+4702
A four-way galaxy merger, one of the largest such collisions ever spotted, within the galaxy cluster CL0958+4702. // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Rines (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
Galactic blob
A galactic blob, a glowing cloud of hot hydrogen surrounding some galaxies, appears massive in visible light (left) and contains three super-bright colliding galaxies visible in infrared light (right). // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/H. Teplitz (SSC/Caltech)
Antennae Galaxies
The Antennae Galaxies, NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, with visible light from stars in blue and green and infrared light from the heat newborn stars impart to dust clouds in red. // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Z. Wang (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
Hubble Ultra Deep Field
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field, with several of the earliest galaxies ever discovered highlighted below (including their distance expressed in redshift value); Spitzer observations helped determine these galaxies contain the earliest generation of stars. // Credit: NASA/ESA/N. Pirzkal (STScI/ESA)
Coma cluster
A mosaic of the Coma cluster’s central region, combining visible light (in blue) with long- and short-wavelength infrared light (red and green, respectively). // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/L. Jenkins (GSFC)
Sunflower Galaxy
The Sunflower Galaxy (M63), with dust glowing red and stars shining blue-green. // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SINGS Team
Maffei 2
Maffei 2, a galaxy hidden behind the Milky Way’s dust and thus almost invisible in visible light. // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Turner (UCLA)
NGC 2841
Spiral galaxy NGC 2841, with older stars appearing blue and dusty regions in red. // Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
